Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

High-tech Testing Of The Space Shuttle's Foam

Date:

March 8, 2006

Source:

Iowa State University

Summary:

The spray-on foam that insulates and protects the space shuttle's super-cold external fuel tank is applied in thin layers. The top of each layer dries to a bumpy crust, marking each layer in the foam like rings mark a tree trunk. Iowa
State University researchers are studying how X-ray backscatter imaging and computer simulation modeling can help NASA look through those layers to find any defects in the foam.

Related Articles

The spray-on foam that insulates and protects the space shuttle's super-cold external fuel tank is applied in thin layers. The top of each layer dries to a bumpy crust, marking each layer in the foam like rings mark a tree trunk.

Gray, the leader of the X-ray research group at Iowa State University's Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, is studying how X-ray backscatter imaging and computer simulation modeling can help the National Aeronautics and Space Administration look through those layers to find any defects in the foam. Unlike traditional X-rays that make images by transmitting radiation through an object to a detector, backscatter technology makes images based on the electromagnetic radiation deflected by objects back to a detector.

Pieces of the foam fell from the shuttle Columbia during its January 2003 launch, damaging the spacecraft's left wing and causing the shuttle to break apart when it re-entered the earth's atmosphere. The accident killed all seven astronauts aboard and grounded the shuttle while NASA engineers worked to solve the foam problem.

When the first shuttle flight since the Columbia accident blasted off in July, more foam chunks fell from Discovery's external fuel tank and sent engineers looking for more answers.

NASA is asking Gray and his research team -- Terry Jensen, a center physicist; Feyzi Inanc, a center scientist; and Scott Wendt, a center associate scientist -- to do an $88,000, three-month study to answer two questions about NASA's foam testing. Gray said NASA engineers want to know more about the ability of X-ray technology to detect bubbles when layers of shuttle foam curve around corners. And he said they want to know more about the technology's ability to see any bubbles near the foam's layer lines.

The Iowa State researchers are taking X-ray images of foam samples and loading that information into a computer simulation program. And they're running computer simulations that model the X-ray technology's ability to find defects in the foam. Gray said he expects to send NASA a final report of the research results in March.

"Our job has long been to do research, find new inspection technologies and develop a better understanding of those technologies," said R. Bruce Thompson, the director of the Center for Nondestructive Evaluation and an Iowa State Anson Marston Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. "Now we're seeing those technologies put into practice on a real and national problem. It's very exciting for the center to participate in this research."

For the past four years center researchers have been working on 17 NASA research projects supported by a $7 million appropriation from Congress. The work is focused on finding new technologies to monitor and inspect spacecraft. One result of the work is that NASA officials know about the center and its capabilities.

"I feel good about this project because NASA asked us to help with this," Gray said. "They're taking advantage of some of the tools here that they have helped develop and support."

The shuttle's next flight is scheduled for May but a NASA official recently said engineers continue to study the foam problems and that launch could be delayed.

More From ScienceDaily

More Space & Time News

Featured Research

Mar. 31, 2015 — Astronomers have conducted observations of the massive-star forming region IRAS 16547-4247. The observation results shows the presence of multiple, or at least two, gas outflows from a protostar, ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015 — Observations made with two space observatories, Herschel and Planck, reveal glimpses into how today's galaxies came to be. Using one-of-a-kind instrumentation, astronomers were able to study large ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015 — Stars form when gravity pulls together material within giant clouds of gas and dust. But gravity isn't the only force at work. Both turbulence and magnetic fields battle gravity, either by stirring ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015 — Scientists have long puzzled over the planet Mercury's excessively dark surface. New research suggests that carbon from passing comets could be the planet's mystery darkening ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015 — Luke Skywalker's home in "Star Wars" is the desert planet Tatooine, with twin sunsets because it orbits two stars. So far, only uninhabitable gas-giant planets have been identified circling such ... full story

Mar. 26, 2015 — Astronomers have studied how dark matter in clusters of galaxies behaves when the clusters collide. The results show that dark matter interacts with itself even less than previously thought, and ... full story

Mar. 26, 2015 — The best observations so far of the dusty gas cloud G2 confirm that it made its closest approach to the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way in May 2014 and has survived the ... full story

Mar. 25, 2015 — Researchers have completed a new analysis of an ancient Martian lake system in Jezero Crater, near the planet's equator. The study finds that the onslaught of water that filled the crater was one of ... full story

Mar. 25, 2015 — The precise measurement of Saturn's rotation has presented a great challenge to scientists, as different parts of this sweltering ball of hydrogen and helium rotate at different speeds whereas its ... full story

Related Stories

Nov. 11, 2013 — No better solution to studying ever-draining foams than applying a strong magnetic field to keep the liquid in the foam at a standstill by levitating its water molecules. Foams fascinate, partly due ... full story

Oct. 31, 2012 — The yeast used to make beer has yielded what may be the first gene for beer foam, scientists are reporting in a new study. The discovery opens the door to new possibilities for improving the frothy ... full story

June 28, 2012 — In searching for better flame retardants for home furnishings -- the largest source of fuel in house fires -- researchers defied the conventional wisdom and literally hit a wall, one made of clay. ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.